Delphi the Musical at Bedlam Theatre Review
Well timed for a summer dominated by the release of epic movie, The Odyssey, we have a "modern Ancient Greek" musical set at the Oracle at Delphi. For a thousand years it was seen as the mouthpiece of the gods, where the Oracle would advise kings and leaders with prophecies from the Greek god Apollo. But what happens when the Oracle slips out of favour and loses patronage?
If you don’t have any knowledge of Delphi and Ancient Greece this will be a difficult show to follow. As it begins, we appear to be at a rehearsal with a cast that isn’t performance ready, much to the chagrin of its director and leading lady. It then transpires that these two characters are the Priest and Pythoness and they are actually running through their rituals in preparation for a visit from the Roman Emperor, and the mismatched group of actors in modern dress are the “staff” who make the prophecies happen – there’s a lot of talk of plumbers, but no explanation of their role, something to do with smoke.
Two ambassadors arrive in advance of the Emperor – one of them is Narcissus (the boy who fell in love with his own reflection) – beyond a couple of references to him wanting to build a pool to look into, there’s no real connection with the myth beyond his self-obsession. The other is a childhood friend of one of the Oracle team, Sophia, another confusing character who is presented as a sweet young orphan but who actually appears to have aspirations to take over the top job.
The plot rambles on with the Ambassadors wanting to redevelop the temple into a holiday resort, the Priest and Pythoness deciding to leave. There’s no real storytelling as it feels very much as if the limited amount of dialogue only serves to link to the next song.
The songs performed are Delphi’s saving grace – whether in a trio or group number for the whole company the actors produce some beautiful harmonies and choreography is very slick and precise. Unfortunately, this strength does not apply to solo numbers or duets. The actors don’t try to tell us a story through these songs, it looks as if they are too intent on getting the choreography right to really project and commit to the singing, there’s no light and shade, no big finish, they’re just going through the motions and getting the moves right. It’s a shame as there are clearly some great voices in this cast.
The idea behind Delphi is a good one – the big corporates cashing in and turning our traditions into something commercial – but the book needs a lot of work and the direction needs to concentrate more on telling a story than on precision dance moves. There’s talent in the cast but the actors deserve a better showcase.
Delphi: The Musical is at Bedlam Theatre until 30th August.
★★
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026.
